Ventura rises to housing challenge

We took opponents of a proposed Simi Valley apartment complex to task last week for their seemingly unbridled display of NIMBYism. So it’s only appropriate that this week we applaud Ventura’s approval of a similar project.

Both projects would include four-story apartment buildings and retail spaces at underused sites within city limits. They are exactly the type of so-called “in-fill,” mixed-use development that experts say our cities need to spur economic growth and help reduce a severe shortage of multifamily housing.

A developer wants to tear down most of the largely vacant Belwood strip mall at Alamo and Tapo streets in Simi Valley and replace it with 278 apartments, including 83 units designated as affordable housing. Some neighbors are voicing standard NIMBY complaints like traffic and density, but the plans have not yet made their way to the Simi Valley City Council.

We can only hope Simi Valley leaders follow the path set by the five Ventura council members who last week supported a 306-apartment project near Johnson and North Bank drives. The project, which also includes 5,000 square feet of commercial space and a small park, already had been approved by the Planning Commission but needed the council to endorse a zoning change — from commercial to mixed used — to proceed.

The proposal offers some much-needed workforce housing, including 19 units for low-income households, and a potential economic jolt for Ventura’s Montalvo area, which lost its movie theater and other dollars to nearby RiverPark. “The city needs a win. We need progress,” said Stephanie Caldwell, CEO and president of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, and we agree the project is certainly that.

“The development would provide housing within walking distance of shops, services, recreational amenities, and work places,” a city staff report says. “Further, this mixed-use development would be expected to contribute to the overall sustainability of the neighborhood through a complementary mix of land uses …”

We were disappointed with the shortsighted, status-quo thinking of Mayor Neal Andrews and Councilwoman Christy Weir, the pair who opposed the zoning change. You can guess what two of their concerns were — traffic and density, as usual. Weir even complained that the height of the buildings would block views of the mountains from Highway 101, again displaying how low the city’s housing crisis is on her list of priorities.

A December report listed Ventura County as one of the 10 least affordable places in the nation for renters, and housing advocates estimate the county needs an additional 26,000 affordable rental units to meet demand. Our cities can step up to try to meet this challenge, as Ventura did, or constantly complain about traffic and views and density — at their own economic peril.

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